"Voodoo Macbeth"

John Houseman, played by Daniel Kuhlman, comes into a rehearsal of "Macbeth" by a Black theatre troupe doing a Federal Theatre Project production in 1936. He's one of the company's managers and at the time of this shot in "Voodoo Macbeth" (USC Cinema / Lightyear Entertainment, 2022) rehearsals had just begun and the production really didn't have a director. It's the story how Orson Welles became involved and why the setting for the show was changed from Scotland to Haiti.

The Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro is standing in for the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem. A Warner Bros. back lot facade was used for the theatre exterior. A large cast is headed by Inger Tudor as the company's starring actress Rose McClendon, Jewell Wilson Bridges as a very young Orson Welles, June Schreiner as Virgina Welles and Ashli Haynes as Edna, a singer turned actress. 

It was a collaborative effort of ten directors: Dagmawi Abebe, Victor Alonso-Berbel, Roy Arwas, Hannah Bang, Christopher Beaton, Agazi Desta, Tiffany Kontoyiannis Guillen, Zoe Salnave, Ernesto Sandoval and Sabina Vajraca. The cinematography was by Bash Achkar.  

 

Houseman's character, on the right, poses for a photo op on the stair landing in the Warner's lobby. The big guy is Congressman Martin Dies, a rabid anti-communist crusader played by Hunter Bodine. He sees a bit of a rehearsal and declares that the Federal Theatre Project was supposed to fund "American theatre" and vows that the show will never open.

 

Jewell Wilson Bridges as a very dejected Orson Welles during a rehearsal.

See the Warner Grand pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the building and many photos.

On IMDb: "Voodoo Macbeth" |  Trailer on YouTube |